Irish perform well in all phases for seventh win

Irish perform well in all phases for seventh win

November 13, 2011|ERIC HANSEN | South Bend Tribune

LANDOVER, Md. -- This time, Notre Dame really did need a JumboTron.

So quick, so thorough, so retro was ND's dismissal of a diluted Maryland squad Saturday night at FedExField, the giant video boards eventually became the only source of amusement for the fans beyond, that is, comparing what food product Maryland's red, white yellow and black helmets looked like.

Early and often, Jonas Gray sucked the drama out of the third-ever Irish off-site home game in what is now being called the Shamrock Series. That left ND coach Brian Kelly in the mood to go for style points, leaving his first-team offense in deep into the fourth quarter of a 45-21 beatdown of Maryland.

ND's final tally of the game came on a Tommy Rees-to-Tyler Eifert 34-yard connection with 5:31 left in the game. The real beauty was the offense, defense and special teams all excelled in the same game for the first time this season.

Advertisement

It was also a rare turnover-free game for a team that shared the bottom of the FBS standings in that statistical category coming into the game.

"It was just today," Kelly cautioned of the well-roundedness of the win. "You know, it's Saturday, November the 12th. We played the way we need to play in all three phases. We'll see what happens on the 19th of November.

"But they know, our players truly understand how to win football games now, and it starts with our preparation during the week. And they know that they have to be able to bring all three phases. We'll look to repeat that next week, and that's the challenge to our football team.''

For his part, Gray rushed for a career-high 136 yards on 21 carries and two touchdowns, giving the senior 11 rushing TDs on the season. That's the most since ND's all-time leading rusher, Autry Denson, garnered 15 in 1998. Gray had zero TDs combined in the first 25 games of his collegiate career.

"It's been a journey," said Gray, who was almost joined in the 100-yard club Saturday night by teammate Cierre Wood (18 carries, 99 yards, 1 TD). "I just have to keep continuing to listen to my coaches and keep playing hard."

The Irish topped the 500-yard mark in total offense for the fifth time this season, ran a Kelly Era-high 84 offensive plays, rushed the ball a season-high 46 yards and got a season-high 30 completions from Rees -- in 38 attempts -- for 296 yards and two TDs.

It started with a the first offensive series of the game, when ND shifted in hyperdrive for a rare time this season.

"I thought that it was important for us to come here and really make a statement early on," Kelly said. "I thought we did that."

Whether it's a loud enough statement to coax the Irish back into the top 25 since the preseason poll remains to be season. And Kelly wasn't about to go big picture.

"I think for us the process is what we do during the week, because we're not at that point where it's habit, that we do it the right way all the time," Kelly said. "We're making good progress there. We really can't fly at 35,000 feet, so to speak. We have to really focus on the day-to-day."